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It’s no secret that our minds often play tricks on us. Just take a look at our previous post on optical illusions that almost gave people a heart attack and browse through this list of optical illusions in everyday things that left people seriously confused.
But this time we are looking at a peculiar case of optical illusions that were created by shadows. Think of random shadows created by both inanimate and animate objects like windows, birds, trees and people.
And when you capture them at the right time in the right place (or rather, at a very random time and in a totally accidental place) you may come up with some very interesting results. Get ready to have your head spin, and be sure to upvote your favorite pics as you scroll through this list by Bored Panda!
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
Shadows Cast From A Tree During An Eclipse
RELATED:
#2
A Rare Optic Sight, The "Brocken Spectre," Occurs When A Person Stands At A Higher Altitude In The Mountains And Sees His Shadow Cast On A Cloud At A Lower Altitude
#3
Even The Shadows In Scotland Are Plaid
Previously we spoke with Lisa Yaszek, a Regents Professor of Science Fiction Studies at Georgia Tech, where she researches and teaches science fiction as a global language crossing centuries, continents, and cultures, who explained our never-ending fascination with optical illusions.
According to the professor, there is something inherently pleasing about the ability to perceive an image in different ways and it’s “part of our natural aptitude for learning.”
#4
This Unicorn Shadow
#5
The Way These Shadows Line Up With The Windows
#6
The Way The Light Shines Through The Bookcase Making A Cityscape Shadow
MellonCollie 4 years ago
That is so genius, I'm thinking it is done on purpose! Does anyone know where this is?
It doesn’t matter the source or the nature of the illusion, each one has captivated us since the dawn of time. “Whatever the source of our love for optical illusions, it’s fascinating to note that the desire to create optical illusions seems to be as old as humanity itself."
Historical examples of optical illusions can be found with the work of the prehistoric artists who decorated the Cave of Altima 20,000 years ago. “They used the natural bulges in the rock walls of the cave to give volume and depth to the animals they drew there; the Greek-Egyptian inventor Heron of Alexandria (10CE–70AD) engineered a device that made it look like priests could open temple doors with verbal commands; and the Airavatesvara Temple in India is covered in 800+-year-old carvings of animals that change species when viewed from different angles.”
#7
This Shadow From Two Different Trees In My Parking Lot
#8
Crumpled Paper Shadow Faces
#9
Shadow And Slope Makes It Look Like Heās Floating
Our renewed fascination with optical illusions is nothing surprising, says Lisa, because whenever people invent new creative or technical processes, they use them to create optical illusions. “Indeed, we’ve seen this throughout the twentieth and twenty-first centuries: pioneering filmmakers like George Melies drew on vaudeville stagecraft and scratched and painted on celluloid to create the first filmic special effects; Op artists Josef Albers and Bridgette Riley manipulated geometric forms on canvas to convince the eye that unreal spatial places existed,” she explained.
Today, we use digital technologies that allow us to radically transform the scale and presentation of images in sometimes truly mind-blowing ways, while other times it’s nature that plays tricks on us!
#10
The Shadow On The Stairs Looks Like Another Set Of Stairs
#11
This Shadow That Perfectly Lined Up With The Light Pole
#12
The Horses Were Standing So Still That Their Shadows Still Have Frost
#13
Spider Floating On Water Made A Unique Shadow
#14
A Long Boi With A Shadow Of A Mandog
#15
Shadow Cast By My Light Looks Like The Gingerbread Man Hanged Himself
#16
A Tree's Shadow Stopped The Snow Underneath It From Melting
#17
This Restaurant Uses Shadows To Show Men And Women Restrooms
#18
Baby Deer Chilling On A Chair
River Webb 4 years ago
Bambi found himself a lovely Chihuahua of a wife this is their oldest child cambi
#19
The Shadow From A Rivet Makes It Look Like Sacajawea's Smoking A Blunt
#20
The Way The Shadows Look Between My Coffee Mugs
#21
The Shadows From These Window Cages Create A 3D Effect
#22
Shadow Looks Like Painting
#23
The Shadow Of My Chimney Makes Me Look Like Lord Farquad
#24
Lahaina Noon In Hawaii Right Now - The Sun Passes Directly Overhead, So Anything That Isn't Top-Heavy Doesn't Cast A Shadow
#25
Shadows Of Birds Perched Atop A Tent
#26
The Personless Shadow
MellonCollie 4 years ago
The person right in front of the shadow, with the black shorts with green stripes, seems to be jumping. Hence the shadow not touching the ground.
#27
Only 3 Spiral Ornaments And The Rest Are The Shadows They Cast
#28
I Found The Shadow From My Sculpture More Interesting Than The Sculpture
#29
I Genuinely Thought My Car Was Hovering Over The Parking. The Shadow Makes It Look Like It's Floating
#30
This Glass Casts A Spooky Shadow
#31
Around 2pm Every Sunny Day, There's A 1 Shadow On My Floor
#32
The Shadow Of This Decoration Piece Makes A Horror Movie Villain
#33
The Shadows Formed On This Bench Are A Perfect Greyscale
#34
This Shadow From My Axis Am Allies Game
#35
The Clouds Shadows Make It Look Like They're Floating Islands
#36
An Actual Full Rainbow And The Shadow Of My Plane
#37
K-Pop Shadow Is Coming For You
#38
The Shadow Left The Snow On The Roof Untouched
#39
Shadow Cast By My Lamp Looks Like A Happy Spider With A Ball
#40
Straight Ladder Has A Crooked Shadow
#41
My Jeans' Shadow Looks Like A Face
#42
The Shadow Of My Bookshelf Looks Like A City Skyline
#43
This Fuel Filler Cap's Shadow Looks Like Batman
#44
This Dog Shadow Looks Like Donald Trump
#45
When You're Darth Vader At Heart
#46
The Shadow From The Bull's Head Making It Look Like It Has A Chicken's Body
#47
Changing My Friend's Car Radio When I Noticed This. The Shadow Looks Like An Alien Language
#48
The Shadow Of This Bench Looks Like Pixels In This Picture I Took
#49
My Country Is So Poor It Even Has Low Quality Shadows
#50
Shadow Of The Hair On The Forehead Looks Like A Bump
Lauren Caswell 4 years ago (edited)
There was a little girl who had a little curl, right in the middle of her forehead. When she was good she was very very good, and when she was bad she was horrid. A nursery rhyme I knew growing up (it rhymes the way I say forehead Lol, perhaps not a rhyme depending on your accent!)
#51
I Climbed Ben Nevis And Discovered This Halo Effect On My Shadow
#52
The Shadows Cast From The Balconies Of This Building
#54
The Shadow My Shaker Ball Makes
#55
My Pencil Case Shadow Looks Like A Guy Smoking A Cigarette
#56
The Solar Eclipse Causes The Shadows Cast By Leaves To Mimic The Shape Of The Eclipse
#57
My Brother Made His Shadow Look Like Yoda
#58
I Found This Stick And It Looks Like A Katana In The Shadows
404 Panda Not Found 4 years ago
Kids when they find a stick which looks like a gun: TREMBLE BEFORE ME.
#59
My Little Plastic Animals Casting Shadows
#60
This Triangle Blackhole Created By The Shadow Under An Information Stand
#61
This Triangular Shadow Under My Windowsills
#62
The Ridiculous Length Of My Shadow
#63
Sign Says Coffee, Shadow Says Cofee
#64
This Hotel Room Number Is Created By A Shadow
Caro Caro 4 years ago (edited)
Well, if you use a key-card and you're in the room you go to bed. If not inside you take the stairs and sleep in the lounge after eating aaaaaalll the ice cream before it melts. How's that sound?
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Dwight k schrute. 4 years ago
Why not just... Put it on the wall? It's cool, don't get me wrong, but still.
#65
Eiffel Tower Casting A Shadow At Morning
#66
Difference In Shadows Between One Corrective Lens (+250) And Other Lens That Is Little More Than Regular Glass (+25)
#67
This Shadow On My Kitchen Drawers
#68
The Shadow Is A Different Number
#69
Irl Bad CG; Lahaina Noon Where The Sun Is Directly Above And All Shadows On Straight Objects Disappear
#70
The Way My Kitchen Lights Create A Perfect Gradient Grid Shadow In This Box
#71
This Lamp Casts A Shadow That Looks Like An Eye
#72
A Shadow On The Ceiling Of The World
#75
The Shadow Of My Bamboo Plant, Looks Like A A Humming Bird
#77
My Dad's Shadow Looks Like Palpatine
#78
The Shadow Of A Flame
#81
Chain Link Fence Shadow Looks Like Fish Net Leggings
#82
This Shadow Of A Fork At Sunset
#83
Howdy, Imma Gyraff
#84
My Round Lamp Throws A Triangle Shadow
#85
I Think I Stopped Understanding How Shadows Work
#86
This Shadow From My Circle Drawing Thingy Looks Like A Human
Roxy Eastland 4 years ago
If we want to be pedantic it's called a pair of compasses, and each point is a compass. But it really doesn't matter because everyone knows what is meant by a compass. Except one person, apparently.
#87
The Shadow Of These Glasses Looks Like A Pair Of Sunglasses With Tint
#88
This Cloud I Photographed From A Commercial Flight That Is Creating A Massive Shadow
#91
The Secrets Hiding In Your Shadow
#92
This Shadow Of A Tree In My Mum's Garden
#95
Shadow Of My Sandwiches Looks Like A Side-Shot Of A Troll's Face
#96
The Hat I Was Wearing Made My Shadow Have A Perfectly Circular Head
#99
The Shadow Created By My Wife's Car
#101
An Interesting Shadow To Wake Up To
Ozymandias73 4 years ago
Even more creepy when you open the curtains and there's nobody there :/
#102
The Shadow Of These Signs I Drove By Spelled "Yo"
#103
This Weird Shadow Situation In My Kitchen
#105
Here Is A Picture Of The Longest Shadow I Have Ever Seen Of Myself
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What do you think ?
renee brack 4 years ago
Shadows are accidental free art - except when they're on purpose. Or not free.
Steve Barnett 4 years ago
Humans are reliant on shadows; it helps us perceive things. As an example, please see the attached Optical illusion. Untitled-6...722892.jpg 
Yugan Talovich 4 years ago
This is one great thing about cellphones. People always have a camera handy for serendipity like the coffee mugs and others.
renee brack 4 years ago
Shadows are accidental free art - except when they're on purpose. Or not free.
Steve Barnett 4 years ago
Humans are reliant on shadows; it helps us perceive things. As an example, please see the attached Optical illusion. Untitled-6...722892.jpg
Yugan Talovich 4 years ago
This is one great thing about cellphones. People always have a camera handy for serendipity like the coffee mugs and others.
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